Bloomberg-
The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and Nomura Holdings Inc. (8604), refusing to derail federal government lawsuits that seek billions of dollars over the sale of risky mortgage-backed securities.
The justices today turned away an appeal by four banks, including units of RBS and Nomura, in a case stemming from the collapse of two credit unions that owned more than $1.7 billion in those securities.
High court review might have helped RBS fight off a separate suit by the Federal Housing Finance Agency over $32 billion in mortgage-backed securities. RBS now is likely to settle that case for at least $1.7 billion, according to Elliott Stein and Alison Williams, analysts with Bloomberg Intelligence. Nomura may settle a smaller FHFA lawsuit against it as well.